This invention relates to retaining walls, and specifically to structures which facilitate constructing a retaining wall from conventional concrete building blocks.
The permissible height of a concrete block wall without tie-backs depends on the mass of the wall, the backfill material, and other known determinants of similar retaining walls made from similar elements but having different types of interlocks, such as protrusions or grooves cast into the blocks themselves. Usually this type of wall is limited in height 4 to 6 times the depth of the wall element.
With tie-backs, a concrete block wall can usually be built to a height equal to or greater than the length of the tie backs, if the ties and their connection to the face blocks is strong enough.